Texas Celebrates Chicken Fried Steak Day. And It’s Official.

Share this story with a friend:

Share this story with a friend:

The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.

In case you didn’t know, Thursday is Chicken Fried Steak Day in Texas — an official state holiday created in 2011 thanks to a pair of Dallasites.

KERA’s Stephanie Kuo talked with them about why a fried slab of beef deserved a day all to itself.

Jeffrey Yarbrough works in public relations in Dallas and is a former president of the Texas Restaurant Association. He felt chicken fried steak deserved a day all to itself given its popularity and place in history.

“I was seeing a lot of the national holidays. There was National Mango Day. There was National Pecan Day; there was national Hamburger Day, Avocado Day – my gosh,” he says. “But there wasn’t a Chicken Fried Steak Day.”

So Yarbrough went to the Texas Department of Agriculture: “And they said, ‘Well, Yarbrough, that’s a great idea. Why don’t you do that and let’s figure out how we can collect fees and set up a marketing budget for it.’ And I was like, ‘No, I just want someone to bless this and say it’s a holiday. Somebody just give me a holiday!’”

His contacts at the agriculture department said naming holidays wasn’t exactly within their purview as a government agency – and ultimately turned him down.

“So I drove across town (Austin) and I went to the Texas Beef Council. They couldn’t do it,” Yarbrough said. “And I left Austin frustrated.”

Then on the drive back up to Dallas, Yarbrough stopped in Temple to meet with a freshman state Rep. Ralph Sheffield, who was also in the restaurant biz and owned longtime Temple hangout Las Casas.

“And he said, ‘I think I can walk that straight up the Hill.’” Yarbrough recounted. “About a month later, literally a TV crew and Rep. Sheffield come busting through the door and he’s got the scroll of the proclamation for Chicken Fried Steak Day, and I’m like ‘Oh my god, it happened; it really happened!’”

I know my mouth is watering.

A 17-year-old immigrant held in federal custody in Texas underwent an abortion procedure Wednesday. She was able to terminate her pregnancy after a weeks-long legal battle with the Trump administration.

Officials had tried to block her from having the procedure but a federal appeals court finally ruled in her favor earlier this week. The American Civil Liberties Union represented the teenager.

She said in a statement from the ACLU, “People I don’t even know are trying to make me change my mind. I made my decision and that is between me and God.”

The city of Houston will resume its curbside recycling program in November., according to the city’s Solid Waste Management Department. It had been suspended since Hurricane Harvey struck the city.